The Porsche 911 is an automotive icon with few equals. 1970s 911s are particularly coveted among the cognoscenti. A 1970s 911 owned by the King of Cool? Well that’s just sick. Steve McQueen’s 1970 911S that was featured prominently in his 1971 flick Le Mans is set to cross the auction block come August, and given the provenance no one’s even trying to guess how much cash it could bring in. Not only did it get a lot of screen time in the film, McQueen used it as his personal vehicle while filming in France. The opening sequences of his character Michael Delaney driving it through the French countryside while reflecting on life, death and racing were pretty true to life.

It has been tragic what is happening in Japan, my heart goes out to the country. I want all of my Japanese friends and readers to know that they are in my prayers. The good people at Nepenthes have organized a sale tomorrow in NYC where 100% of the proceeds go to support the Japanese relief effort. It is an easy way to support a nation that desperately needs our help. If you aren’t in New York, give to the Red Cross and there are even more ways to help here.

This past Sunday I paid a visit to the Brooklyn studio of artist Bailey Hunter Robinson. You might remember Bailey from one of my Brimfield posts this past summer, when I caught him lying on the grass trying to escape the mid-day flea market heat. Upon arrival in Brooklyn I explained to Bailey that I was the guy who took his photo that hot summer day while he was trying to get some shade. “I’m sorry for taking your picture and putting on my site. I remember at the time you didn’t seem too happy about me taking the picture.” I said as I took off my coat and set my gear on the worn wood floors of Bailey’s new studio. “Oh it was fine. I was really hot that day and I was losing my ass up there, I don’t think I had sold a thing at that point.” he said. Such are the ways at Brimfield on hot summer days I suppose.

Bailey’s interest in furniture, vintage objects and things like Brimfield can be traced back to the influence of his parents while growing up in a small town in Alabama. “My parents were huge collectors of early English stuff, big oil paintings and things like that.” he said. It was this interest and his friendship with Luke Scarola (who co-owns the vintage furniture shop in Brooklyn called Luddite) that has helped shape the aesthetic of Bailey’s studio. “Luke and I used to drive five hours to go to an auction and they drive five hours home in one day. There were times when we were out and so exhausted that we couldn’t keep track of who bought what.”

With the recent opening of the GANT Campus Store in New Haven, a re-release of the classic YALE CO-OP shirts was inevitable. Just this past weekend came word that the company started selling a small run of the button-down shirts ($115) at the new campus store in New Haven, as well as at their stores in New York. The wovens, which are based on the original designs that were sold at the university bookstore in the 1960s, are co-labeled with the YALE CO-OP mark and GANT branding. For me the oxford shirt is my daily driver, so I for one am excited to see these classic styles be released. If you are someone who isn’t into oxford cloth and button down collars, this is probably not the shirt run for you. For those of you that look for those attributes in your shirts, I’d say you are in luck.

Probably my favorite use of the GoPro camera to date. Prepare to live the happy life of a duck hunting dog. I’m consistently enamored with the results from these cameras, they produce high quality video and some pretty amazing perspectives. Hats off to the guys that came up with the idea to strap the camera on the dog, field marketing at its finest. Pun intended. [via SUGAR via Gizmodo]

South by Southwest is commercial, chaotic, concentrated. It’s also elemental, extraordinary and the most essential week in American music. In the last few years we saw bands from Au Revoir Simone to Andrew Bird, Beach House to Midlake. Not in a field with 100,000 stoners or the echo chamber of Madison Square Garden, but in clubs where you’re 50 feet away from Warpaint or School of Seven Bells. At this late date you’re not getting a room at the Hotel San Jose, but you can still road trip to Austin and crash on the couch of your friend who’s still working on their thesis at U of T. Then head to Marfa check in at the Thunderbird Motel and you’re feeling pretty smart indeed. Don’t worry about tickets, there are free concerts all day, everyday and light beer for everyone.